The Committee Markup Process in the House of Representatives (CRS Report for Congress)
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| Release Date |
Revised Feb. 8, 2023 |
| Report Number |
RL30244 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
Judy Schneider, Government and Finance Division |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
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Summary:
At the beginning of a markup, committee members often make opening statements, usually not
exceeding five minutes apiece. The first reading of the text of the bill to be marked up can be
waived, either by unanimous consent or by adopting a non-debatable motion. The bill then is read
for amendment, one section at a time, with committee members offering their amendments to
each section after it is read but before the next section is read. By unanimous consent only, the
committee may agree to dispense with the reading of each section, or to consider a bill for
amendment by titles or chapters instead of by sections. Also by unanimous consent, the
committee may consider the entire bill as having been read and open to amendment at any point.
Each amendment must be read in full unless the committee waives that reading by unanimous
consent. Committees debate amendments under the five-minute rule. A committee can end the
debate on an amendment by ordering the previous question on it, or by agreeing to a motion to
close debate on it. A committee also can order the previous question or close debate on the entire
bill, once it has been read or that reading has been waived by unanimous consent. However, the
committee can only close debate, not order the previous question, on individual sections (titles,
chapters) of the bill. The various kinds of amendments, as well as most of the other motions, that
are in order on the House floor are in order in committee as well.
Committees do not actually change the texts of the bills they mark up. Instead, committees vote
on amendments that their members want to recommend that the House adopt when it considers
the bill on the floor. The committee concludes a markup not by voting on the bill as a whole, but
by voting on a motion to order the bill reported to the House with whatever amendments the
committee has approved. A majority of the committee must be present when this final vote
occurs. For all other stages of markups, committees may set their own quorum requirements, so
long as that quorum is at least one-third of the committee’s membership.
Like the Speaker of the House, committee chairs are responsible for maintaining order and for
enforcing proper procedure, either at their own initiative or by ruling on points of order that other
committee members make. Chairs also frequently respond to questions about procedure in the
form of parliamentary inquiries.
A committee may report a bill back to the House without amendment, with several amendments,
or with an amendment in the nature of a substitute that proposes an entirely different text for the
bill. Alternatively, a committee may report a new or “clean” bill on the same subject as the bill (or
other text) that it has marked up.
